There are known seats (chairs) for vehicle drivers, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,922,416 to Fader, where, in order to reduce driver fatigue, a cylindrical roller is mounted into a special chair back casing. The cylindrical roller is moved by a connecting-rod mechanism (powered by a motor and reduction gear) and by reciprocating motion within flexible material, the seat supports a driver's back and provides some massaging to it.
Such a device is very complicated, needs tuning, has low reliability, and most importantly, does not provide comfort to the driver, i.e., does not massage the lower part of the body and does not provide ventilation.
Different massaging apparatus for vehicle seats are known, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,466 to Wong. In general, they comprise a relatively large number of massaging balls or beads, all of which are supported in a planar fashion between a double-walled support structure. One wall of the support structure has bead positioning cavities and the other wall has openings through which the beads extend.
The majority of the beads are of a first, smaller size, while a relatively few beads, located along a central axis, are of a larger size. Such apparatus preferably has support straps to support it on an automobile seat. This solution, usable by an automobile driver, relieves back ache or strain especially during a long trip.
This apparatus is relatively difficult to produce, and its massaging effect on the back is insufficient. In addition, it does not support the back and hence does not provide rear back relief and reduction of fatigue and does not provide back ventilation.
Another driver massage device is known and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,294 to Chu. This device has a substantially planar support of foamed plastic and a plurality of massaging elements in the form of halves of balls distributed uniformly about the support. Such a device provides a more comfortable massage and is less expensive, but it has other disadvantages as outlined above in relation to the patent to Wong.
There are different ventilation devices, in particular for a seat in the form of a panel or grid fabricated as a sheet of resilient plastic material having a plurality of protuberances arranged in columns and rows which act to support the body in spaced relation to the supporting surface. Such a lattice of channels, formed by protuberances between the supporting surface and the body to provide ventilation, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,916 to Trotman et al.
The Trotman device is functionally restricted and, as is shown in the patent, cannot simply be combined (without additional finishing and completion) as an assembly for a driver back-supporting device which provides massaging of body parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,248 to Trotman et al. discloses a ventilation device useful as a seat pad with a lattice-type structured panel, padding material and a plurality of horizontal and vertical protuberances designed for ready passage of air. This device is more comfortable for a driver/passenger than that described above in the '916 Trotman device, but is has the same disadvantages.
Other devices for the above-mentioned purposes are known, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,137,523 to Karner, and 3,675,644 to Laskowitz, and UK Patent No. GB 2234439-A to Kato. These devices combine certain functions which are relevant for purposes of review of the prior art.
However, all of these devices do not solve completely all the problems for designing modern vehicle seats for drivers and passengers and for individuals who are seated or immobile for a long time (including sick people with restricted mobility). In such cases, the known technical means permit solving the problem, but the proposed devices may be too complicated, therefore they are not saleable, and there is not a great demand for such devices.
Therefore, the main purpose of the present invention was to provide an inexpensive vehicle seat with good operating parameters, leading to an improvement in vehicle driving comfort by reducing driver fatigue and ultimately, the number of traffic accidents.
Another purpose of the invention was to enlarge the field of users of such a seat, not only for drivers and passengers, but for individuals who are seated or immobile for a long time including sick people with restricted mobility.